New CSU stadium would crown decadelong construction boom

Oct. 3, 2012

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Building

Notable CSU construction projects since 2007, either complete or in progress: • $14 million computer science instruction building, funded largely by student facility fees • $57 million 600-bed Academic Village North, on site of former Lory Apartments • $17 million, 216-bed Aspen Hall at the Academic Village • $22 million, 850-space parking garage between Lake Street and Prospect Road • $4.5 million renovation and “freshening” project at Moby Arena • $14.7 million to renovate and expand Parmelee Hall • $19.5 million Animal Sciences expansion • $58 million for the under-construction Engineering II building on Laurel Street • $65 million to renovate the Lory Student Center • $16.8 million for Morgan Library renovation and expansion, including the glass study cube • $1.35 million for Early Childhood Center • $32 million Student Recreation Center expansion • $13 million Indoor Practice Facility • $7 million Athletics Academic and Training Center • $108 million replacement for Aggie Village North off Prospect Road

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A $246 million football stadium could become the crowning achievement in a decadelong transformation of CSU’s Fort Collins campus.

Colorado State University is amidst the greatest campus building boom in generations, with more than $800 million dollars’ worth of construction either complete, in progress or being planned. From parking garages to massive new residential centers, classroom buildings, laboratories and recreation facilities, CSU has earned the nickname around town as “Construction State University” for the ongoing transformation.

It’s a transformation that’s helping cement CSU as a college choice for thousands of additional out-of-state students and support hundreds of millions of dollars in annual research grants.

It’s a transformation that many Fort Collins residents might be unaware of, perhaps in part because CSU is exempt from many city rules regarding development.

But it’s a transformation that’s dramatically changing the look, feel and sheer size of CSU regardless of whether the university builds an on-campus stadium. And like a similar construction boom in the 1960s that saw the erection of Morgan Library, Moby Arena and the Lory Student Center, today’s construction will shape CSU’s future for decades to come.

“If you haven’t been on campus for a decade, if you come on, you can really see the transformation,” said Fred Haberecht, the university’s assistant facilities director. “On an experience level, we’re trying to create a great learning environment, with a great environment for social engagement.”

After World War II, CSU embarked on an ambitious building boom that saw construction of new residence halls — many built from the same architectural plans — along with classrooms and other amenities, including Moby Arena and Hughes Stadium. Blessed with a large campus, CSU built a sprawling complex of buildings along with ample parking lots. Now CSU is planning to build multiple parking garages across campus, packing cars in more densely. That means the university will be able to push cars to the perimeter of campus, reserving the core for pedestrians and cyclists.

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Former Fort Collins Mayor Doug Hutchinson likes to use the changes in CSU parking as an example of how much the university has changed since the 1940s. Hutchinson remembers when the campus was filled with quickly erected housing for soldiers returning from World War II; and as a child, he helped carry bricks used to build on-campus faculty housing.

After growing up across Laurel Street from campus, Hutchinson attended and graduated from CSU. He fondly remembers the changes that the 1960s brought to campus.

“It just seemed to be a quantum leap toward a larger and much more attractive and usable university,” he said. “That was a major, major change.”

Hutchinson said the new campus construction boom will likely have similar and long-lasting impacts on students and the surrounding community. State higher education officials say every $100 million in capital spending generates an additional $100.65 million in additional spending and creates 1,212 jobs.

“It’s amazing growth for the university. It gives me some mixed emotions. It is definitely a different kind of change, toward a much larger university than what was represented by the changes in the ’60s. It didn’t seem to make it into a giant university,” Hutchinson said. “These changes in the last five, six, seven years have reflected a much larger university.”

CSU plans to grow to about 35,000 students in the coming years, and today’s construction is meant to help the university keep pace with that growth. CSU today educates about 27,000 students.

For instance, workers are right now demolishing the Lory Apartments on Laurel Street, once home to about 100 single students, and will replace them with an “Academic Village North” complex housing about 600 students. CSU is also planning to demolish portions of the Aggie Village complex off Prospect Road to make room for a 1,200-bed residence complex for students with families.

CSU President Tony Frank on Tuesday declined to discuss the campus building boom, saying he preferred to remain quiet until after the university’s governing board discusses the stadium plan on Thursday and Friday.

But back in 2008, long before a stadium discussion surfaced, Frank said CSU needed to pull together money from public and private sources to add new facilities across campus. He said low interest rates, growing enrollment, close ties with the city of Fort Collins and a supportive Board of Governors made this the perfect time to start building.

“By putting all these pieces together, we can absolutely transform the university in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Frank said then.